Dozens of Eisenhower's letters to his brother sold

Letters reveal president's views on America's image abroad

Posted: Sunday, December 03, 2006

By By Joann LoviglioThe Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA -- A collection of 140 private letters written by President Eisenhower to his brother Edgar that covered such subjects as America's image abroad and the toll of the presidency have been sold.

The letters, written to Edgar N. Eisenhower from 1941 to 1967, reveal the 34th president's concerns about the arms race, America's poor image around the world, political patronage and eroding civil liberties. The sale price was confidential but was "consistent with" an earlier appraisal that placed its value at $270,000, according to the dealer, The Raab Collection.

In a letter from 1955, two years into his first term, the president tells his brother that the world views the United States as "bombastic, jingoistic and totally devoted to theories of force and power as the only worthwhile elements in the world."

The Associated Press

Two personal correspondences of Dwight D. Eisenhower are displayed together. A broker of rare manuscripts has sold a collection of 140 private letters that President Eisenhower sent to his brother, Edgar N. Eisenhower, during a span of more than a quarter of a century.

Click here to check for reprint availability.

In others written after his two White House terms, he discusses the havoc wreaked by political extremists and tells his brother the presidency has "cost me a lot in health, much in wear and tear on mind and disposition, to say nothing of hundreds of thousands of dollars."

"Ike" was a prolific letter writer, penning thousands of pieces of correspondence during his lifetime, but it was more frequently to colleagues and others in politics, said J.T. Dykman, of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission in Washington, D.C. The group commissioned by Congress is charged with creating a memorial to Eisenhower.

"I would go so far as to say that the family letters are relatively few compared to all the others," Dykman said.

Eisenhower, who retired to a farm in Gettysburg, corresponded with all five of his brothers, but he and Edgar were "at opposite ends of everything," Dykman said.

"Edgar probably thought Charlemagne was too far to the left," he said. "He would chastise his brother for being in favor of things such as Social Security. Still, he and all the brothers remained close and stayed in touch."

The Associated Press

Several personal correspondences of Dwight D. Eisenhower are displayed together with a photograph of him. A broker of rare manuscripts has sold a collection of 140 private letters that President Eisenhower sent to his brother, Edgar N. Eisenhower, during a span of more than a quarter of a century.

Click here to check for reprint availability.

The Raab Collection, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Ardmore, arranged the sale. It declined to identify the buyer or seller, saying both were private individuals who wanted to remain anonymous. The buyer, a history buff from California, intends to display the Eisenhower letters as an institutional loan, but no details have been worked out yet, spokesman Nathan Raab said.

The dealer's founder, Steven Raab, said in decades of studying presidential correspondence, the Eisenhower letters are the most frank and thought-provoking that he has seen.

"These letters are a window into Eisenhower the general, president and political philosopher and allow us to see Ike as he wanted his own brother to see him," he said.